I just took delivery of about 8 big boxes of comic book, film and TV related magazines, books and all kinds of stuff. In amongst it was issue #20 of the Comic Book Collector from August 1994 which had the 20 Most Powerful People In The Comic Industry. I thought the list was interesting, so I thought why not post it and see how people think now as opposed to who were the movers, groovers and shakers over 12 years ago.

The list is as follows. In brackets is what they were doing back then or what they were on the list for.
1. Steve Geppi (CEO of Diamond)
2. Terry Stewart (CEO of Marvel Comics)
3. Milton Griepp & John Davis (both of Capitol City Distribution)
4. Paul Levitz & Jennette Kahn (DC Comics)
5. Todd McFarlane (Image)
6. Mike Richardson (Dark Horse)
7. Frank Miller (Creator)
8. Scott Rosenberg (CEO of Malibu Comics)
9. Gary Colabuono (Executive VP for Classics International Entertainment)
10. Neil Gaiman (Creator)
11. Steve Massarsky (CEO of Valiant Comics)
12. Dave Sim (Creator)
13. Gareb Shamus (Publisher of Wizard Magazine)
14. Jim Shooter (Defiant Comics)
15. Matt Groening (Simpsons)
16. Steve Harris (Publisher of Hero Illustrated)
17. Denis Kitchen (Publisher of Kitchen Sink Press)
18. Bill Liebowitz (Retailer - Golden Apple)
19. Don & Maggie Thompson (Comics Buyer's Guide)
20. San Diego Convention (yep, the 20th most powerful person was an event)
Special Mention:
Jack Kirby

Thoughts? I've always looked at these things and thought that perhaps they should read The 20 Most Powerful People In The Comic Industry In The USA. Still, how many of those people would make the list now? Capitol City was killed off by Diamond, thus creating the monopoly that exists today (and also means that it's now harder than ever to get a book into the marketplace - not all monopolies are good), Valiant, Defiant, Malibu and Hero are also long gone, Jennette Kahn isn't at DC and I've never heard of the Golden Apple shop, but then a pile of people haven't heard of the stores I frequent.

So just who would make the 20 Most Powerful list today and why?

Today it would probably be:

1. DCP crew (collectively)
2. Comicland forum members (collectively)
3. Dan Didio
4. Joe Quesada
5. stan lomisceau

(Seriously.)

That list pains me deeply.

Which one?

Have to add Bendis for sure to that list.

Someone should post that top 20 list across the street. Hilarity would ensue, I'm sure.

The 1994 list.

That would provoke a damn fine John Byrne lecture. The evils of direct sales. Blah blah blah. He told them it would happen but no one believed him. Blah blah blah. Rock star mentality. Blah blah blah. No respect for the characters. Blah blah blah. Retailers have a grudge against him. Blah blah blah.

1. Steve Geppi (CEO of Diamond)
2. Gareb Shamus (Publisher of Wizard Magazine)
3. Avi Arad (CEO of Marvel Comics)
4. Paul Levitz (President, DC Comics)
5. Joe Quesada (Editor-in-Chief, Marvel)
6. Dan Didio (Editor-in-Chief, DC)
7. Matt Groening (Simpsons)
8. Frank Miller (Creator)
9. Grant Morrison (Creator)
10. Mark Millar
11. Brian Bendis
12. J. Michael Strazynski
13. Geoff Johns
14. Greg Rucka
15. Mark Waid (I suppose)
16. Brian Hitch
17. John Romita, Jr.
18. Frank Cho (he's currently one of the hottest artists in the market, I feel)
19. Maggie Thompson (Editor, Comics Buyer's Guide)
20. San Diego Convention (I still concur. At this event, companies still make their big announcements.)

Hey Daniel - very cool..thanks for posting these - its always interesting to look back and see what has changed (defiant, valiant, etc all gone).

In terms of a new list..i pretty much agree with Mark's list..its also intersting to note how certain creators have much more power now and have pseudo-editorial roles at Marvel and DC (Bendis, Millar, Johns, etc).

I like your list Mark, but...

Does Wizard Magazine still have any clout? I wouldn't think Gareb Shamus is much of a player these days (I could be wrong). I would put Alan Moore on there somewhere. Jim Lee ranks high as well. I'm sure there are more names I'm missing.

... and it's a shame that the IMWAN collective is not on that list!

As I was playing with my list, I was realizing the same thing. That's why the only editors that I listed were Quesada and Didio. Both of them seem to be the guiding forces for most of the "Event" comics. Morrison is one writer that does seem to have some ability outside of editor control though. He writes events without needing a company wide crossover.

I don't think Alan Moore has any current clout with comics. He doesn't cause major changes to happen, or major sales to occur just due to his name now.

That could change. Same with Neil Gaiman (whose Eternals series has been very enjoyable to me).

Jim Lee could be on there. Maybe take the place of Comics Buyers Guide. I don't even see that anymore, even though I see Wizard magazine all over the place, including my students' hands. And remember, Wizard owns TOYFARE, INQUEST GAMER, ANIME INSIDER, and TOY WISHES, it owns a variety of conventions, WIZARD WORLD: LA, Texas, Philadelphia and Chicago.

It's still a player.

I do have to agree, that there are probably other movers and shakers, but those were the ones that instantly came to mind.

I expect that Jim Lee would definately be on there as he still runs Wildstorm. Miller would have to be higher as he's one of the few comic book creators who has enough clout in Hollywood now to get a movie made (creator that's come from comic books, and not from movies/TV to comic books ala JMS, Wheldon etc etc).

Interesting that people mainly go for writers - do artists not have the same selling/pulling power that the once had?

I was trying to think what artists will pull me in or pull kids in. I actually had to look up Brian Hitch's name, since I know a lot of people, kids included read comics he does.

George Perez would be in there too, if all the people looking were adult readers.

I don't think the Image Publisher/Savage Dragon writer/artist Erik Larson has the pull he had 10 years ago now.

Neal Adams can pull a ton of readers in, but he can't make a big change in comics like he could have 20 or 30 years ago.

Stan Lee doesn't have the clout he used to have. But he doesn't want it anymore, I don't think.

Marvel International, Marvel Entertainment, and Marvel Studios are a major factor in the comics to movies translation, so all of the financial and creative bosses there are modern motivating factors to comics.

Bruce Timm should have been up there for awhile, but I don't think he's as big a name in current comic efforts.

Jeanette Kahn and Dick Giordano are out of the biz. Denny O'Neil had more influence in 1994 than people think.

The list could be thousands of people long.

That's why it's an art form getting the list down to a mere 20...

In no order.....................

Joe Quesada
Paul Levitz
Brian Michael Bendis
Mark Millar
Frank Miller
Geoff Johns
Grant Morrison
Jim Lee- Look at the impact his delays on All-Star Batman & Robin/ WildCATS have had.
Whoever's in charge of Diamond
Whoever's in charge of dcbs
Whoever's in charge of the New York City Comic Con
Art Spiegelman
Bryan Singer
Whoever's in charge of Viz
Avi Arad
Joss Whedon
Matt Brady
Brian K Vaughan
Jeph Loeb
Bryan Hitch- Just because current artists are told to draw like him.

Good list, although I think you over-rate the signiicance of Wizard/ Comic Buyers Guide over the more popular online sources of information.

And I think you over-rate Rucka/ Waid/ Ennis over recently more popular (not necessarily better) writers like Brian K Vaughan (creator- Runaways, Pride of Baghdad, Lost) Joss Whedon, and Jeph Loeb.

Good call on Dan Didio (forgot about him myself.)

I agree, CBG should be gone. Wizard however is still the hardcopy mag of choice. Just not as well used as say, Newsarama, CBR and Ain't It Cool News.

I don't know Price of Baghdad. The other two I know, so I can agree there. Waid, I can easily drop, because I think he's a wannabe big name. I don't agree with New York Comicon, because I hadn't any references to it in years, in spite of it being a local event for the creators.

But, San Diego Comicon International is referenced in both Marvel and DC books, and even covered in various news shows every year. Even in the hinterlands of Colorado.

Joss Whedon I should give more credit to, except I haven't been reading much in the X-Men stuff in the last decade. His tv and movie credentials are awesome, and I watch anything he's done (including Roseanne).

Jeff Loeb should be in there too, because he gets enough authority to write books out of continuity even after DC stopped doing Elseworlds.

Heh... I didn't put Garth Ennis in there but I agree, and I'd be happy to dump Rucka too.

Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman have a greater impact on comics even when they're not working in comics than almost anybody else. Gaiman can put a graphic novel on the NYT best seller list pretty much anytime he wants. Moore managed to get every comic shop in the US to order a massively expensive openly pornographic comic. These guys whisper and the whole industry leans in to listen. I think they're easily Top 20.

I think Alan Moore is clearly in the top 15, its just that he rarely chooses to exert his influence. If he went to either publisher with an idea, I betcha it gets the green light.